The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1887-11-19
the JUMPED CLAIM.
A New Mexican Gives His Experience
in the Uimbres Mountains.


son, an old prOspector who had his
headquarters in Ell Paso, but who
makes several incursions into the
districts every year. "Half
of them believe in ghosts, nine out
of ten in signs, and about all of
them in luck. My own experience
has changed my views in a good
many instances, and for one thing,
it has made me q firm believer in
special providences. 1t didn't come
about gradually, but through as
an escape from an awful
death as believe ever falls to man."
at happened up in the Mimbres
mountains, four years ago this
summer. The Mimbres lie in New
Mexico, down below old Fort Tula
Rosa, and they must be
FULL OF GOLD
Somewhere, because the beds of the
creeks that find their way down the
sides are so rich in placer diggings
that you can't pull up a sage brush
around there without seeing bright
specks among the roots. l had a
pet theory then that if you followed
the creeks up high enough and
looked close enough you would find
a tremendous deposit of gold in
decomposed quartz. / thought, you
see. that a little of it had washed
off the surface in the course Of time
and formed those placers. What l
wanted to find was the mother mine.
II talked the thing up to Charley
Burke. another prospector and
friend Of mine, until he agreed to
put up half the outfit and join me
in the search. We got couple of
horses, the necessary tools, and
started early in the spring. The
country about the Mimbrcs is about
as wild and desolate as any on earth
and it was trip that nothing but
faith and enthusiasm would prompt
a man to attempt. 1t was one sue
cession of gorges, gulches and ac-
clivities, all strewn with granite
boulders from the size of a mans
hand to a four-story block, and
often we were obliged to leave the
water course we were following and
make detours that took days at a
time.
"The creek we followed was al
most dry, and we stopped frequent
ly, looking for placers. We found
no very rich ones,
BUT EVERYWHERE THERE WAS GOLD.
Sometimes there would be lots OF
it in the bottom of the tin cup after
we had taken drink, and some
times-here is a curious thing-it
would be floating on the surface.
/ will let some one better posted
than / tell why gold now and then
floats, but / only know that little
flakes of it do, and lot of it is
lost in sluice mining in that way.
AS long as we found placers we
knew that the main deposit was
ahead; so we pushed along, tired
enough but confident. At last we
came to spot where the sand was
barren for several days journey
and then we began to prospect the
country all around. TO make a
long story short, we struck a ledge
one morning with outcroppings that
crumbled under my pick and
showed quartz all streaked with
yellow threads. Charley / yelled
all afire at once,
WE HAVE STRUCK IT!
"Berorc we had sunk a shaft we
found something else that sent our
hearts to our mouths. 1t was ar
old shaft, back a little ways, and in
a claim properly staked out, that
covered that very ledge. There was
a notification according to law or
one of the posts that Peter Summer
and Joseph Klautzy had taken pos
session of the Big Six and done
the legal assessment work. l SAT
right down collapsed, but Charley
went over to the shaft and came
right back to tell me that it didn'
cover half the amount necessary
under the law, to hold the propert,
for a year. We measured it, anf
sure enough. it was down only abou
half the required distance. SO w
took possession of the property
changed its name to the Treasury
and went to work.
WHAT HAD BECOME OF THE TWO Me-
WAS A MYSTERY.
They hsd left no trace except tn
notification board and shaft, ant
it gave me the creeps now and the!
to think that they might be dead
But we were not in a frame of mine
to let sentiment interfere Will
business.
Il suppose we had been there TO
a couple of weeks when provision
began to run short. We didn'
want to both Of us leave the CLAIM
at once. so it was finally arranged
that Charley go down the creek t
a camp about fifty miles away an,
bring in supplies. He took botl
bnrros and started off. calculates
= wonld take him q week to max